Busy, Busy, Busy!

I am so behind in my blogging. These last couple weeks have been a whirlwind! All I can say is at least I managed to get in a short Gotcha Day post a couple of weeks ago.

Just a couple days after celebrating our 3 year Gotcha Day Anniversary with Mila, Chris and I celebrated our 14th anniversary. A few days after that was Mila's 6th birthday. I did take some pics which I will eventually post. They are super cute! A couple days after our girl's birthday was her 3 year anniversary of being home with us and then the following day was Chris's birthday. As I said...it's been a busy couple of weeks.

I have also been trying to get ready to head out of the country to meet the little ones. (Yay)!!! I really didn't do such a fabulous job of getting ready seeing as though I didn't pack until this morning. I can't believe I am finally leaving to go meet them! I wish they could come home this trip! I know it is going to be so difficult to leave them. I just keep telling myself that we are just one more step closer. Oh....I can't wait to love on them!!!

3 Year Gotcha Day Anniversary

On September 8, 2010 I picked Milana up from her Orphanage and took her out of that place forever. Unfortunately, our Gotcha Day was a rushed event. When we got to the Orphanage it was nap time. The caretakers had to wake her up and I was told to hurry up and get her ready so that we could go :(
I would have liked to have taken pictures of her with some of the caretakers. I would have like to get one of those nice pictures everyone seems to have where the parents are carrying their little one out of the orphanage forever. I don't have any of those. I am grateful that I have some pictures from that day. This one was taken at the apartment we were staying in when we got back from running around like crazy people. 

Mila was SO tiny. None of the clothes I brought with me fit her. I bought these clothes in country. As you can see - even those were too big. Three years later those shoes are still a little small.

 This is what Miss Mila looks like today - September 8, 2013. Look at how much she has grown! She is still tiny compared to other children her age, but she has grown SO much! Happy Gotcha Day baby girl :)

August 27, 2010

On this day 3 years ago Chris and I sat in a court room in Ukraine in hopes of officially becoming Milana's parents. The judge talked a lot and asked a lot of questions. He went over our entire dossier while we sat and listened to him speak in a language quite foreign to us. Our facillitator translated and told us when and how to answer when he asked questions of us.

Before rendering his decision the judge went back to his office. Eventually we were called back and given the good news that he would allow us to be Milana's parents.

And so began the ten day waiting period....

Just thought I'd stick a fairly recent picture of Milana on here.

I really love this picture of her. It shows off her wild and crazy side. Wait..is there another side??

We Have Travel Dates!!!

Four weeks ago our dossier was submitted in our children's country. We waited anxiously for travel dates. About a week and a half ago we had heard that we most likely wouldn't get our travel dates until sometime in September because the government was on vacation for the rest of the month. Regardless I continued to check my email in hopes that there might be something. I checked EVERY day SEVERAL times a day. (Wouldn't you)?

Last Friday life got a little more hectic than usual. Checking emails was not an option. The thought of travel was so far from my mind. Flash forward to yesterday. It was a teacher workday. After spending six hours in trainings my team and I decided to head to Panara for something to eat. As the car turned out of the school parking lot I realized I had tons of emails. I started deleting emails and then screamed. I had a travel date. There in my inbox was an email from Shelley - gosh I love that Shelley. Talk about a wonderful surprise! Our travel dates came when I was least expecting them. I love it!

So...in a month I will finally get to meet our two newest little ones. If you have adopted before then you know how excited I am! The thought of finally getting to hold them, play with them, snuggle them, love on them is just so amazing. I start to tear up just thinking about getting to meet them. If only I could bring them home at the end of this trip. Sigh :(  That is not how things work in their country. I understand that. It stinks a big one though. For now I will just be happy knowing that I get to meet and hold and love on my babies! Feeling so very grateful :)

Family Fun At The Beach

Cards For A Cause Fundraiser

We have been given a wonderful opportunity to fundraise for our adoption. We will be selling these beautiful handcrafted greeting cards in order to help raise money to bring Danny & Riley home. At this time we will only be selling them locally as it is a bit expensive to ship them. If you live in the Raleigh/Durham area and are interested in purchasing one or more of these sets of cards please let me know.

The cards are just $30 for a box of 30 cards. Box 1 contains 30 handmade all occasion, individually designed and embellished greeting cards and coordinating envelopes in a keepsake box. Box 2 contains 30 handcrafted and novelty cards for kids, with matching envelopes and funky stickers. These cards come in a convenient magnetic storage box.

Feel free to share this information with your friends and family. The more boxes we sell the more money we raise to bring our little ones home!

Thank you so much for your support :)

Winner of our 2nd American Girl Doll Fundraiser

Once again I would like to thank everyone for your support! Thank you to everyone who donated and/or shared our American Girl Doll Fundraiser.

And now for the winner. The winner is.............Sally P. Congratulations Sally :)